Sportmen's Lodge
 

Anyone ever stay there? Plan on staying there for our trip in May. 5 adult females just looking for a decent place to stay on a budget. We plan on hitting the tourist spots (universal, etc). They also have a car rental agency right there i guess? not sure that we will need a car the whole time, but that option is there. Any feedback would be appreciated!

You might as well tell us where this is so we don't have to spend a lot of time guessing...

How are you going to get there without a car? It's not near the LA airport and it's not that close to Burbank, either.

They can always take a cab or shuttle to the hotel. It's in a very nice area of Studio City on Ventura Blvd. Friends of mine have stayed there in the past and I think it's ok. It has a nice pool.

Just a wild guess here, but I would suspect a taxi from LAX to the Sportsmen's Lodge would cost easily as much as two full days of a rental car. If you were thinking of renting a car at all, it would make a lot of sense to get it when you fly in.

Thanks for the responses. There is a free shuttle from the Burbank Airport to the hotel. If we fly into LAX we will rent a car. I just wanted to get a feel for the hotel, make sure it isn't a big dump or anything. From what I've read it is more of a family place? We just want a decent pool and a bed to sleep in, that's about it. AAA has a great price for the hotel so I think we will go for it.

Ok next question, where can I find cheap airfare? Anyone have insider tips on that? I just search the typical online places like expedia and that sort of thing.

Where would you be flying from? What airlines are available to you?

We will be leaving from ABE (lehigh valley international) or philly. abe is lots closer for us, but leaving from philly is cheaper - pros/cons with both airports. i dont care what airline we fly, i think the major ones are avail out of ABE, and a whole lot more are avail from philly.

my dilemma is there are 5 of us - we are all leaving the same day, 2 are coming back to ABE, the other 3 are going to vegas then leaving from there a couple days later - so basically

2 adults depart:ABE or PHL to LAX or BUR
Return: LAX or BUR to ABE

3 adults ABE or PHL to LAX or BUR
return Vegas to PHL or ABE

what are your dates? Did you try American Airlines?

I did a quick search with http://www.avacation.com/air.html
and found the best prices were with American Airlines but there must be other sites to do price comparations that might even be better.

Not knowing the date of your trip - I just thought I'd add that beginning May 9th, Southwest Airlines will be flying from Philadelphia to LAX. It looks like three flights a day, and one flight a day into Burbank.

You may want to check it out, and their specials if you are flying after
May 9th. They also fly nearly every hour to Las Vegas from Burbank and LAX.

www.iflyswa.com

thanks so much for the info!

we are leaving 5/15
2 are returning 5/19
3 returning 5/21

i will check into this info! thanks

another question...would the drive be worth it from LA to Vegas? is it a scenic drive? Would we be missing anything if we flew to Vegas?

I live in So. Calif and we have driven to Las Vegas but I honestly think you wouldn't miss a thing if you flew. It is kind of a boring ride.

I agree with the previous poster. There is nothing scenic - you just want to drink water because looking at the sagebrush makes you thirsty.

The flight from Burbank is probably 45 minutes, and it's barely enough time for them to hand you a drink. The Burbank Airport is small, very easy to fly out of.

I stayed there a couple of years ago. It was fine. Nothing fancy, but one of the better places I found in the valley.

You'll want a car if you stay there. Wkd rates are low at LAX. You can get a full size from Dollar for $22 per day.

we will most likely fly into LAX unless i find a deal to fly into Burbank. Now I must decide on taking a shuttle to the hotel or renting a car. I will check out dollar rental and other places.

i found great airfare from burbank to vegas - 117 for 3 people...cant beat it. i think we will skip the boring drive to vegas & just fly there!

thanks!